Chiba Prefecture welcomes tourists for strawberry picking season

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 (Bernama) -- Chiba Prefecture in Japan welcomes tourists to enjoy strawberry picking at its farms during the picking season from January to May, as the prefecture is currently flourishing with strawberry production.

According to a statement from the Chiba Prefectural Government, the prefecture is home to more than 100 strawberry farms.

Visitors can enjoy eating strawberries from a variety of species grown on about 50 strawberry-picking farms to compare their tastes including a new variety, ‘CHI-BA+BERRY’, which hit the stores in January 2017.

This variety is available only in Chiba Prefecture. The strawberry itself is big and has a beautiful shape, besides being sweet and delicious.

Chiba Prefecture is easily accessible from overseas as Narita International Airport is located in the prefecture, which is endowed with a mild climate and is currently welcoming spring full of flowers.

-- BERNAMA

SUNWAY MALLS REVEALS INCREASE IN YEAR-END FOOTFALL FOR FLAGSHIP MALL

The increase of unique visitors to Sunway Pyramid was due to the opening of several flagship shops and new brands, plus the co-hosting of Artbox Malaysia 

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 (Bernama) -- Amidst a more cautious economy and GDP growth, Sunway Malls reveals that the brand’s flagship mall, Sunway Pyramid, has been enjoying higher footfall since Q42018.
 
In general, malls in Malaysia has at least 4 peak cycles; the Lunar New Year, Hari Raya, Christmas and May-June school holiday weekends. To remain relevant yet sustainable, Sunway Malls executed the strategy to create another peak cycle for footfall through international collaborations.
 
“2018 was indeed an interesting year for us. Cautious consumer sentiments encouraged us to think out of the box on creating more purposeful visits to our malls. As a mall owner-operator for over 20 years, we knew there is an upside to capitalise on the non-peak periods for traffic arrivals for sustainability of the business. So for 2018, we co-hosted Artbox Malaysia, the first in the country, to attract new shoppers and fulfil the potential of Sunway City simultaneously,” says HC Chan, CEO of Sunway Malls & Theme Parks.
 
In comparison to the festive seasons of Lunar New Year and Hari Raya in 2018, Sunway Pyramid saw a 30% increase in footfall during the Artbox Malaysia weekends in November. The mall also registered a general 20% growth in sales during that weekend.

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=33720

Hoshi first bonded cosmetics factory in Japan

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 29 (Bernama) – Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) and Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) cosmetics company, Hoshi Corporation, has received a licence from the Okinawa Regional Customs to operate Japan’s first bonded cosmetics factory, a statement today said.

The license enables the company to fully use its high manufacturing technology to reduce costs and realise swift production, thereby offering affordable manufacturing plans thanks to reduced tariff and storage costs.

By operating the bonded factory in the Okinawa Global Logistics Center (GLC) area neighbouring Naha International Airport, Hoshi can undertake filling, packaging, assembling operations and material storage.

The added advantage of being in Okinawa, the southernmost island of Japan, is that it is less than fours hours’ travel by air to major Asian cities and right in the middle of a mass Asian market of two billion customers.

Hoshi has four manufacturing plants (incuding Tokyo, Gunma and Saitama), and decades of experience dealing with over 700 clients and 20,000 product types.

The business is driven by growing international demand for made-in-Japan cosmetics, mainly to Asian and Oceania countries.

For details, visit http://hoshicorp.jp.

-- BERNAMA

COLLIBRA RAISES $100 MILLION LED BY CAPITALG AND SURPASSES $1 BILLION VALUATION

Data governance and catalog leader to accelerate growth and double down on machine learning and artificial intelligence
 
NEW YORK and BRUSSELS, Belgium, Jan 30 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Collibra, a leader in enterprise data governance and catalog software, today announced $100 million in series E funding at a post-money valuation of more than $1 billion, bringing the company’s total venture funding to $233 million. CapitalG, Alphabet’s growth equity investment fund, led the round, with participation from existing investors ICONIQ Capital, Index Ventures, Dawn Capital and Battery Ventures.
 
The funding comes on the heels of a record revenue year, with an 80 percent increase in annualized recurring revenue and rapid expansion across the globe. The investment is expected to be used to fund the expansion of the product portfolio and to accelerate growth across the business. Collibra plans to extend its artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities both within its cloud-native platform — building more automation into its smart catalog product — and in its support of data science teams for their own advanced analytics initiatives.
 
“Collibra is putting organizations back in control of their data, helping them comply with changing legislation, embrace emerging technologies and capture the information that will enable them to design services and solutions built for the future,” said Derek Zanutto of CapitalG. “We look forward to partnering with Collibra and marrying Google and Alphabet's machine learning and AI expertise with Collibra’s leadership in data collaboration, workflow management and risk management.”   
 
More than 300 global customers in industries ranging from financial services to healthcare, retail and technology, are leveraging Collibra’s platform to bolster their data-driven digital transformations. Collibra has become the de-facto choice for chief data officers tasked with implementing a strategic approach to their data and maximizing its value for their organizations.
 
“Now more than ever, we live in an economy where the most innovative companies are fueled by data. It has become our most valuable asset,” said Felix Van de Maele, CEO and co-founder of Collibra. “This investment is a testament to Collibra’s leadership and our ability to help customers transform their market proposition through data-driven insight. With this latest round, we are well-positioned to leverage our heritage in understanding data to help our customers utilize the most cutting-edge innovation to power their digital transformation journeys.”
 
Collibra continues to receive significant accolades from the data and technology community, and was recently named to Forbes’ Cloud 100 list for the second consecutive year. It was also named a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Metadata Management Solutions for the third consecutive year, as well as in The Forrester Wave™: Machine Learning Data Catalogs and The Forrester Wave™: Data Governance Stewardship and Discovery Providers.
 
About Collibra

As the leader in data governance and catalog software, Collibra helps organizations across the world gain competitive advantage by maximizing the value of their data across the enterprise. Collibra is the only solution purpose-built to address the gamut of data stewardship, governance, and management needs of the most complex, data-intensive industries. Our flexible and configurable cloud-based or on-premises solution puts people and processes first – empowering every data citizen to find, understand and trust the data to unlock business value. Learn more at www.collibra.com.

SANTEN HOSTS EVENT TO RAISE PUBLIC AWARENESS OF IMPORTANCE OF CONTINUED GLAUCOMA TREATMENT PRIOR TO SPONSORING WORLD GLAUCOMA WEEK IN MARCH

OSAKA, Japan, Jan. 30, 2019 /Kyodo JBN-AsiaNet/ --
 
As part of its efforts to raise public awareness of glaucoma, Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "Santen"), based in Osaka, will sponsor glaucoma awareness-raising activities to be conducted around the world during the World Glaucoma Week, from Sunday, March 10, to Saturday, March 16, 2019.
  
Glaucoma is an eye disease that causes damage to the optic nerve, resulting in progressive visual field loss. Although this disease can lead to loss of vision when left untreated, early treatment often allows patients to maintain visual field throughout their lifetime. Therefore, early detection through regular ophthalmic consultation is the desirable starting point when treating glaucoma. The World Glaucoma Association, of which Santen is an Associate Glaucoma Industry Member, defines one week every March as the World Glaucoma Week and hosts various events and awareness-raising activities around the world to encourage people to detect and begin treating glaucoma as early as possible.
  
Santen has also implemented various initiatives to increase public awareness of the importance of early detection and continued treatment of glaucoma. As part of such initiatives, Santen hosted the disease awareness-raising event "Recommendations for Continued Treatment and Care" targeting glaucoma patients in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, on November 17, 2018. This event included a makeup lesson given by facial therapist Ms. Reiko Kazki (hereafter "Ms. Kazki"), a pioneer in rehabilitation makeup*, and a lecture by glaucoma specialist Dr. Aiko Iwase (Director of Tajimi Iwase Eye Clinic, hereafter "Dr. Iwase").
 
Photo:
https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105326/201901292640/_prw_PI1im_hkGVy617.jpg

Although many types of eye drops are available for treating glaucoma, they can sometimes bring about adverse effects, such as hyperpigmentation (abnormal coloring) around the eyes and deepening of the upper eyelid sulcus (sunken eyes).
  
An important challenge of glaucoma treatment is that some patients hesitate to receive continued treatment out of concern about such side effects or stop using eye drops based on their own judgment. This event was held to provide such patients with the opportunity to overcome their feelings about the adverse effects and increase their awareness of the importance of continued treatment.
  
At the event venue, Ms. Kazki's demonstration of rehabilitation makeup* aimed at making the adverse effects of eye drops for glaucoma inconspicuous met with cries of surprise from both female and male audience members. Ms. Kazki also gave a hands-on makeup lesson to some in the audience. Dr. Iwase explained in her lecture, "Continued glaucoma treatment allows patients to maintain vision field. Drug side effects sometimes inevitably accompany glaucoma treatment, and discourage some patients to continue receiving treatment. My strong desire to change this situation motivated me to participate in this event."
 
Santen also continues to regard the World Glaucoma Week as a period for employees to learn about glaucoma on their own initiative and impart their learning to their loved ones, including family members and friends. The company will devote further efforts to encouraging all employees, including those working around the world, to deepen their understanding about glaucoma.
  
* Rehabilitation makeup: Makeup for nullifying a defect or helping return to the original condition
  
About Santen
 
As a specialized company dedicated to ophthalmology, Santen carries out research, development, marketing and sales of pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter products, and medical devices. Santen is the market leader for prescription ophthalmic pharmaceuticals in Japan and its products now reach patients in over 60 countries. With scientific knowledge and organizational capabilities nurtured over a nearly 130-year history, Santen provides products and services to contribute to the well-being of patients, their loved ones and consequently to society. The company's Chairman and CEO is Akira Kurokawa. For more information, please visit Santen's website (www.santen.com).
  
Source: Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
 
--BERNAMA

MALAYSIA TO HOST INAUGURAL WOOD EXPO IN NOVEMBER

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 (Bernama) – The Malaysian Timber Council (MTC) and publisher of wood magazines, Panels & Furniture Group, will be organising the Malaysian Wood Expo 2019 (MWE 2019) from Nov 19 to Nov 21 at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), Kuala Lumpur.

The event is expected to attract some of the best international wood-based manufacturers and woodworking machinery suppliers, as well as buyers and exporters, eager to take advantage of the opportunities being offered by fast-growing Southeast Asian economies.

Ranked as the second-most competitive economy in ASEAN, Malaysia – with her well-developed infrastructure, sound political climate, strategic geographical location and business facilities -- is an excellent gateway to ASEAN.

Malaysia also makes a good timber manufacturing hub for export to ASEAN which has a combined population of over 640 million and gross domestic product (GDP) of US$2.8 trillion (US$1 = RM4.10).

Both organisers have pulled out all the stops to make MWE 2019 a success. For more information, visit www.mtc.com.my.

-- BERNAMA

First end-to-end AI music making platform launched

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 (Bernama) -- Amper Music launched Amper Score – the world’s first end-to-end artificial intelligence (AI) music composition platform for enterprise content creators – and a developer application programming interface (API), today.

Using the Amper Score platform, content teams can create and edit music to accompany videos, podcasts and many other types of content.

Music created using Amper Score is royalty-free and comes with a global, perpetual license for subscribers when synched to content.

With Score’s fine-grained control, video editors -- who typically work with stock music libraries -- have reported greater than 90 per cent time savings in sourcing and editing music for their projects.

Businesses can also integrate Amper’s API into their own creative tools, distribution platforms and other applications where music is created or consumed.

“The decision to partner with QQ Music was a no-brainer,” said Amper Music Inc chief executive officer, Drew Silverstein, of its API launch partner.

“They are at the very forefront of the music, media and entertainment markets, and their staggering reach will bring our AI composer technology to millions of new users,” he added.

“As a leading online music entertainment platform in China, QQ Music is constantly looking for ways to utilise the most competitive technologies,” said Tencent Music Entertainment Group vice president, Dennis Hau.

“In our collaboration, we are impressed by Amper’s leading technology, speed, quality and user control design,” he added.

For more information, visit https://www.ampermusic.com.

-- BERNAMA

AM Best gives Meiji Yasuda A+ Rating

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 (Bernama) -- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A+ (superior) and Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of ‘aa-’ for Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company (Meiji Yasuda), Japan.

A statement today said Meiji Yasuda’s balance sheet strength assessment mainly reflects its risk-adjusted capitalisation being at the strongest level, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR).

This assessment is also supported by a large adjusted capital base which consists of reported capital, contingency reserves and price fluctuation reserves, as well as some equity credit for subordinated debt.

In addition, while balance sheet debt has grown, the company’s financial leverage ratios remain conservative, with adjusted debt leverage ratios generally under 25 per cent.

Meiji Yasuda’s operating performance has also remained consistently positive, generating ordinary profits in excess of 300 billion yen (1 yen = RM3.75) per annum on a consolidated basis in each of the last five years (fiscal-year ended from 2014-2018).

The stable outlook reflects AM Best’s expectation that Meiji Yasuda will maintain strong and consistent operating performance, supported by an in-force book that the global credit rating agency expects to generate favourable returns on embedded value and a stable economic solvency ratio over the medium and long term.

For more details, visit www.ambest.com.

-- BERNAMA

AM Best affirms credit ratings of Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co Ltd

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 (Bernama) -- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A+ (superior) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of ‘aa-’ of The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Ltd (DL) of Japan.

The outlook of these credit ratings is stable, and the ratings reflect DL’s balance sheet strength – which AM Best categorised as very strong – as well as its strong operating performance, favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

It also reflects AM Best’s expectation that DL will maintain strong and consistent operating performance, supported by an in-force book that is expected to generate favorable returns on embedded value and a stable economic solvency ratio over the medium and long term.

DL’s balance sheet strength is due in part to its risk-adjusted capitalisation being at the strongest level, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio.

In addition, financial leverage ratios at its holding company remain conservative, with adjusted debt leverage ratios generally under 25 per cent on a consolidated basis, a statement said.

DL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc, which is one of Japan’s largest life insurance groups in terms of premium income.

AM Best is a global rating agency and information provider with a unique focus on the insurance industry. More details at www.ambest.com.

-- BERNAMA

Mary Kay announces executive appointments

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 (Bernama) -- Mary Kay Inc announced the appointments of Chaun Harper as senior vice president-chief manufacturing officer and Dr Lucy Gildea as senior vice president-chief scientific officer.

“We are proud to appoint Chaun and Lucy to these executive positions knowing their leadership and expertise will be invaluable as we build on our efforts to enrich women’s lives worldwide,” said Mary Kay chief operating officer, Deborah Gibbins, in a statement today.

Harper will assume responsibility for global manufacturing operations, global inventory control, supply planning, transportation and global quality, while Dr Gildea will continue to lead the company’s research and development operations.

Prior to joining the iconic beauty brand in 2014, Harper worked for L’Oréal where he held several positions within both the operations and quality functions.

Dr Gildea, on the other hand, spent 15 years at Procter and Gamble, working in healthcare, oral care, beauty technology and beauty/skin development before joining Mary Kay in 2017.

For details, visit www.marykay.com.

-- BERNAMA

KYRIBA PURCHASES FIREAPPS TO CREATE MOST ROBUST END-TO-END SOLUTION FOR HELPING CFOS AND TREASURY EXECUTIVES BETTER MANAGE GLOBAL FX RISK

The inability to easily manage wild currency fluctuations costs global corporations at least $39B during the first half of 2018, highlighting the need for a single-vendor solution
 

NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Kyriba, the global leader in cloud treasury and finance solutions, today announced it has reached an agreement to acquire FiREapps, the leader in enterprise currency management, in a deal that creates the most advanced and effective solution for seamlessly managing the entire lifecycle of global foreign exchange (FX) risk.
 
The agreement will combine two global leaders in cloud treasury and risk management, and further enhance Kyriba’s capabilities for safeguarding its clients against the entire continuum of financial and operational risk, including FX exposures, payments fraud, regulatory risk and more.
 
“FX volatility is a major strategic challenge for treasury organizations,” said Kevin Permenter, senior research analyst for enterprise applications at IDC, a leading technology analyst firm. “Financial leaders doing business in multiple countries should be looking to adopt a more holistic approach to their global risk management strategies.”
 
The acquisition will create a highly advanced solution for managing global FX risk, including data gathering and consolidation, reporting, analytics, decision support, payments, hedge accounting and more. The combined result is a faster, more efficient way to manage FX exposures than using old school processes involving spreadsheets and manual data gathering across multiple systems.
 
In a published case study, treasury executives from a multibillion dollar US consumer goods company shared the results of using Kyriba and FiREapps to better manage their cash, liquidity, payments and currency exposure across 38 ERP systems, 25 different business units and dozens of global banks. The initial result was a dramatic reduction in foreign currency net losses, from $90M (cumulative) in 2013-2015 down to $2M in 2016, and a near doubling of cash visibility to 95 percent.
 
“The acquisition of FiREapps deepens our commitment to helping senior financial executives be more agile and efficient in managing all types of risk, including FX exposures,” said Jean-Luc Robert, chairman and CEO of Kyriba. “We are excited to welcome FiREapps customers, employees and partners into the Kyriba family.”
 
The FX market is one of the largest financial markets in the world, and has become increasingly volatile thanks to geo-political events such as Brexit, trade wars and continued pressure from hyper-inflationary economies. According to FiREapps data, global corporations lost at least $39 billion during the first half of 2018, up from $14 billion during the same period the year before. The analysis, from FiREapps’ “Q2 2018 Currency Impact Report,” sampled data from 1,200 publicly held multinational companies worldwide.
 
“The market has been asking for a single-vendor solution to manage the entire breadth of FX currency exposure,” said Wolfgang Koester, founder and CEO of FiREapps. “By joining with Kyriba, we fill that gap with a highly differentiated solution, while also aligning with world-class capabilities for cash and risk management, payments, working capital optimization and more.”
 
About Kyriba Corp.
 
Kyriba empowers financial leaders and their teams with award-winning solutions for cash and risk management, payments and supply chain finance. Kyriba delivers a highly secure, 100 percent SaaS enterprise platform, superior bank connectivity and a seamlessly integrated solution set for tackling today’s most complex financial challenges. Thousands of companies, including many of the world’s largest organizations, rely on Kyriba to streamline key processes, protect against loss from fraud and financial risk, and accelerate growth opportunities through improved decision support. Technology analyst firm IDC recognized Kyriba as a global leader in its MarketScape for SaaS and cloud-enabled treasury and risk management applications for 2017-2018. Kyriba is headquartered in New York, with offices in San Diego, Paris, London, Tokyo, Dubai and other major locations. For more information, visit www.kyriba.com.

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Business leaders socially aware, new YPO survey shows

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 (Bernama) – The YPO 2019 Global Leadership Survey held from Dec 23, 2018 – Jan 4, 2019 with the participation of over 2,200 chief executives and over 1,800 future business leaders showed that a vast majority believe that the purpose of business is to have an impact on society beyond profits and wealth.

Key findings available at YPO.org/Davos found that 93 per cent of the C-Suite from 110 countries and 92 per cent of the younger generation aged between 18 and 31 agree on this.

The study by the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) found that 74 per cent of the CEOs say their perspective on their role as a business leader has changed in the past five years with employees (43 per cent), colleagues (40 per cent) and their children (37 per cent) cited as some of the top influencers behind this.

They also said that they are much more inclined to make an impact through their business than by being involved in politics.

They pointed to government regulations (51 per cent) and taxation (27 per cent) as the biggest stumbling blocks to creating a greater impact through their business.

They also said that their top three concerns for the future are climate change (37 per cent), lack of quality education (37 per cent), as well as peace, justice and global institutions (30 per cent).

In addressing the concerns, 57 per cent are ensuring their business makes a positive difference, 49 per cent are creating jobs and prosperity for people, and 43 per cent are teaching/mentoring.

Additionally, reducing waste/environmental impact were key focal points for participants in Asia (44 per cent), Europe (44 per cent) and Africa (43 per cent).

Among the future business leaders, 37 per cent also said climate change was a big concern with 55 per cent wanting to reduce their environmental impact.

In contrast to the viewpoint of the CEOs on the barriers to becoming a force for good, the young respondents said corruption (42 per cent) and not being interested in doing more (32 per cent) are the impediments to positive impact.

YPO will be sharing the 2019 Global Leadership Survey findings at an upcoming panel discussion entitled Profit with Purpose: A New Global Model in Davos, Switzerland on Jan 24.

For details, visit https://www.ypo.org.

-- BERNAMA

Capital allocators to benefit from launch of Y Analytics

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 (Bernama) -- Y Analytics, a new and independent organisation, has been launched to drive increased and more effective investment in creating social and environmental good by equipping capital allocators with the research basis to effectively understand the impact of their decisions.

An outgrowth of The Rise Fund, Y Analytics – headquartered in Washington, D.C. and led by its chief executive officer (CEO) Maryanne Hancock – will help bridge the divide between the research community and capital allocators.

“Y Analytics is built on the premise of learning from their work, utilising research to understand what creates impact, building effective tools to predict, underwrite, and manage it, and sharing that work with others to drive better decision-making,” said Hancock in a statement.

Co-founder and CEO of The Rise Fund, Bill McGlashan added Y Analytics will help inform capital in pursuit of change, ensuring that every dollar is used most effectively and providing a common language to pursue positive impact.

Building on the work of The Rise Fund – in partnership with Bridgespan and KPMG – and staffed by a team of economists and researchers, Y Analytics will seek to translate research to help decision-makers evaluate impact at the front-end of the capital allocation process and manage impact rigorously thereafter.

Y Analytics will partner with and serve a variety of organisations and industries over time. It will also collaborate with other organisations working creatively and share its learnings to help advance knowledge in the field.

-- BERNAMA

Toshiba Memory unveils new lineup for flash memory devices

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 (Bernama) -- The world leader in memory solutions, Toshiba Memory Corporation, has started sampling the industry’s first Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Ver. 3.0 embedded flash memory devices.

The new lineup utilises the company’s cutting-edge, 96-layer BiCS FLASH™ 3D flash memory and is available in three capacities: 128GB, 256GB and 512GB, a statement said.

The sequential read and write performance of the 512GB device are improved by approximately 70 per cent and 80 per cent, respectively, over previous generation devices.

The devices feature high-speed read or write performance and low power consumption which are suitable for applications such as mobile devices, smartphones, tablets, and augmented or virtual reality systems.

Additionally, the devices are compliant with JEDEC UFS Ver. 3.0, including HS-GEAR4, which has a theoretical interface speed of up to 11.6Gbps per lane (x2 lanes = 23.2Gbps) while also supporting features that suppress increases in power consumption.

For more information, visit https://business.toshiba-memory.com.

-- BERNAMA

GTreasury announces appointment of new CEO

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 (Bernama) -- GTreasury, an innovator of integrated SaaS treasury and risk management solutions for the digital treasury organisation, has appointed Renaat Ver Eecke as chief executive officer (CEO).

Founder and former CEO, Orazio Pater, has retired to assume his new post as executive chairman of the Board, a statement said.

“I couldn’t be more pleased to have Renaat lead GTreasury to its next level of growth. Not only do I trust Renaat with what we have already built here at GTreasury, but I know the company and our clients will thrive under his leadership,” said Pater.

Ver Eecke brings to GTreasury 20 years of experience in growing technology businesses. Most recently he was president of Teletrac Navman, a $200 million global SaaS business, which he led to double-digit growth.

Prior to his role as president, he served as chief service officer, building a services team across 14 countries by embracing a management discipline grounded in continuous improvement and deep customer insight.

GTreasury serves over 750 large and mid-size treasury organisations across 31 industries throughout North America, EMEA and APAC. It has experienced a record-breaking 64 per cent year-over-year revenue growth by the end of 2018.

More details at https://gtreasury.com.

-- BERNAMA 

Japan´s Odakyu Group drawing tourists this Lunar New Year

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 (Bernama) -- The Odakyu Group has kicked off the ‘2019 Lunar New Year Campaign’ from Jan 16 to Feb 15, 2019 by offering qualified travellers coupons for use and special goods aboard the Limited Express Romancecar trains.

The coupons worth 500 yen (100JPY = RM3.77) each can be used in Tokyo’s Shinjuku, Hakone, Enoshima and Kamakura districts at designated facilities, a statement from Odakyu Electric Railway Co Ltd said.

The coupons are distributed by Odakyu Sightseeing Service Centers in Shinjuku to each of the customers who purchase the Hakone Kamakura Pass -- a 6,500 yen excursion ticket exclusively for inbound tourists.

The pass allows its holders to enjoy services made available by Hakone Freepass and Enoshima-Kamakura Freepass as well as unlimited rides on all lines operated by Odakyu Electric Railway. Holders are also able to receive preferential services from facilities arranged by Odakyu.

A ‘Japanese Sweets Set’ filled with charms along the Odakyu rail lines is sold aboard Limited Express Romancecar trains during the campaign. The set consists of Japanese sweets produced along the Odakyu lines, special chopsticks, a towel and other items.

As part of the campaign, staff members at Odakyu railway stations and in the Enoshima and Hakone areas wear the ‘Omotenashi’ (hospitality) badge’, bearing messages such as ‘Have a nice trip’ in six languages.

The Odawara and Hakone-Yumoto stations are also decorated for the Lunar New Year to welcome inbound tourists. For more information, visit https://www.odakyu.jp/english/springcampaign.

-- BERNAMA

Nestlé Skin Health opens office in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 (Bernama) -- Nestlé Skin Health, a global leader focused on enhancing quality of life by delivering science-based solutions for skin health, announced the opening of a new office in Malaysia to accelerate the company’s growth in the region.

The Malaysia affiliate is evidence of the company’s commitment to better serve the needs of its customers and consumers while at the same time more effectively tapping the ever-growing potential of the market.

“With the company making its debut in Kuala Lumpur, consumers and healthcare professionals in the country can now expect an even broader range of innovative skin health solutions developed to protect, serve and enhance skin health,” said Nestlé Skin Health S.A vice president and head of International Markets, Can Ongen, in a statement.

With a population of over 30 million, Malaysia has a dynamic and diversified economy and continues to enjoy robust growth in consumer spending.

Sensitive skin care products are experiencing particularly favourable category growth, thus confirming the strong market potential for Nestlé Skin Health.

Cetaphil, a product in the company’s dermatologically-formulated consumer skincare range, was recently awarded ‘Consumers’ Most Wanted Brand’ by health and beauty care chain Watson’s.

Cetaphil Baby, another product in the range, was conferred the ‘Most Voted Brand of the Year’ award in the baby skin care category by personal care product chain Guardian last year.

General manager of Indonesia and South-East Asia Export Markets, Nael Itani, will guide the new affiliate under the stewardship of South-East Asia Hub head Fraser Halscheid. The Kuala Lumpur office will be staffed by a local team, led by commercial director Cindy Tiu.

More details at https://www.nestleskinhealth.com.

-- BERNAMA

TurbineAero acquires APU piece part repair business from Triumph Group

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 (Bernama) -- TurbineAero Inc – a portfolio company of The Gores Group – announced today the acquisition of the APU piece part repair product line (RPL) from Triumph Aviation Services Asia Ltd.

The acquisition integrates APU piece part repair into the APU Systems MRO in TurbineAero’s Asia facility which increases in-house capabilities, improves turn-times and assures extra cost reduction, a statement said.

The integration will take place in TurbineAero Asia’s new Thailand-based 80,000 square foot facility which will house up to 250 employees and will handle high technological testing, maintenance, repair and overhaul activities for aircraft components and systems for its worldwide customers.

“This acquisition will further increase our competitive edge and will enable our expanding TurbineAero Thailand team to provide superior MRO service to the growing airline fleet in the region,” said chief executive officer of TurbineAero Inc, Robert Wilson.

Vice president and general manager of TurbineAero Repair-Asia, Peter Gille, said the acquisition highlights the growth TurbineAero has witnessed over the last two years and confirms the development of the aerospace industry in Thailand.

TurbineAero is headquartered in Chandler AZ. It is the leading APU MRO service provider of comprehensive, flexible and reliable solutions to the global aerospace community. More details on www.turbineaero.com.

-- BERNAMA

THOMAS CHEONG NAMED TO LEAD ASIA FOR PRINCIPAL INTERNATIONAL

THOMAS CHEONG NAMED TO LEAD ASIA FOR PRINCIPAL INTERNATIONAL

TERNS PHARMACEUTICALS ANNOUNCES THE APPOINTMENT OF ERIN QUIRK, M.D., AS CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER

SAN MATEO, Calif. & SHANGHAI, Jan 18 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Terns Pharmaceuticals Inc., a global biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing molecularly targeted, oral, small-molecule drugs to treat NASH and cancer, announced today the appointment of Erin Quirk, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Dr. Quirk brings more than two decades of clinical medicine and drug development experience, most recently serving as Vice President of Clinical Research at Gilead Sciences.

“Erin is a highly accomplished clinician with an extensive track record in developing and registering new treatments for infectious diseases and liver diseases. Her expertise will be invaluable as we advance our portfolio of NASH drugs, including TERN-101, TERN-201, and future pipeline candidates, through the clinic,” said Weidong Zhong, Ph.D., President and CEO of Terns. “We are delighted to have Erin join us at this critical time in our company’s growth, as her proven leadership and background in both early and late-stage drug development make her well suited to lead the growing Terns clinical development team.”

Dr. Quirk commented, “I am excited to be a part of this dedicated team focused on developing treatments for NASH, which currently has no approved treatments. I look forward to leveraging my clinical development background to advance these important drug candidates.”

Previously Dr. Quirk was Vice President, Clinical Research at Gilead Sciences where she oversaw all phases of clinical development for Gilead’s HIV treatment, prevention and cure franchise and was responsible for strategy and life-cycle maintenance for the company’s HIV portfolio, advancing multiple compounds and combination products into clinical development and through the approval process. She also led the clinical development of small molecules within Gilead’s emerging and neglected viral diseases portfolio, including antivirals for Ebola virus disease. Prior to joining Gilead, Dr. Quirk was Director of Clinical Research at Merck where she advanced clinical trials for Merck’s investigational HIV vaccine products and oversaw the clinical development of small molecules for hepatitis C virus infection. Dr. Quirk holds an MD from the University of Colorado and completed training in internal medicine and infectious diseases at Washington University in St. Louis where she was a faculty member prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry.

About Terns Pharmaceuticals

Based in San Mateo, CA., and Shanghai, China, Terns Pharmaceuticals is a global biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering and developing molecularly targeted, oral, small molecule drugs to treat liver disease and cancer. The company combines expertise in disease biology, medicinal chemistry and extensive clinical development capabilities in China to advance its growing pipeline of drugs that are optimized against clinically validated targets or targets that have significant preclinical validation. Using a capital-efficient drug discovery model, the company’s mission is to bring promising new therapies to patients in underserved markets via global and region-specific development programs. Terns plans to focus initial development activities on regulatory approval in China and explore clinical development in additional global markets. For more information, visit www.TernsPharma.com.

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=33645

SPACE EXECUTIVE RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF THE BEST PLACES TO WORK IN SINGAPORE FOR 2019

SINGAPORE, Jan 17 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Space Executive, a boutique executive search business covering the areas of strategy, change, transformation, finance, HR, sales and marketing and professional services, was recently certified as one of the best places to work in Singapore for 2019. Best Places to Work program is an international program providing employers in different countries the opportunity to learn more about the engagement and satisfaction of their employees and honor those who deliver an outstanding work experience. Companies making the list are recognized for their organization’s culture, leadership and management, wellbeing, compensation and benefits along with exceptional human resources programs and forward-thinking workplace policies.
 
Space Executive received outstanding scores across several aspects of their workplace such as leadership, compensable and benefits, recognition, teamwork and opportunities for employee growth.
 
“Space has a fantastic culture. We set the bar very high in terms of the quality of individual that we offer roles to and once they are part of the family, we do everything we can to incentivize them as well as listen to them as to what we can positively influence and change in the organization. We truly want everyone to contribute and have a voice in terms of our journey forward.” said Marek Danyluk, General Manager for Space Executive.
 
“Space is a young business and we are continually developing our processes and procedures as well as continually reviewing our reward structures. Staff are empowered to effect change and this is front and center of the success to date.” said Marek Danyluk, HR Director for Space Executive.
 
"Space executive recognizes that creating a spirit of community in its workplace strengthens engagement, staff cohesion and employee performance” said Grace Kelly, Program Manager for Singapore
 
ABOUT BEST PLACES TO WORK PROGRAM

The Best Places To Work Program certifies and recognizes leading workplaces in many countries including leading programs in Africa, Europe, Middle East and Asia. The program focuses on 8 Workplace factors including workplace culture, recognition and reward programs, wellness support and work-life balance and overall employee satisfaction with the company's people practices. An HR audit is also conducted to examine HR Practices within the organization.
 
For more information, please visit the program website at www.bestplacestoworkfor.org

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190117005262/en/
 
Contact

Best Places To Work Program
Press: Grace Kelly
Email: info@bestplacestoworkfor.org
Tel: +65 3163 0953
 
Source : Best Places To Work
 
--BERNAMA

Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo to host Hina-matsuri event

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 (Bernama) -- Japan’s Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo (KPH), located in Shinjuku in Tokyo, will host the ‘Hina-matsuri through Tea Ceremony Culture and Hanging Art’ event, celebrating Japan’s cultural Girls’ Doll Festival or ‘Hina-matsuri’ from Feb 1 to March 28, 2019.

The hotel will display 6,800 handmade dolls and traditional art decorations and will serve special menu items commemorating the ‘Hina-matsuri’ at nine of its restaurants for the event’s duration, a statement said.

Hanging decorative art ornaments – hand stitched from cloth of old silk kimono garments by quilt artist Mitsuyo Matsuo and the 90 members of her Himawari Group of artists – and traditional wooden Mataro dolls from Kamikamo Shrine in Kyoto will be put on view.

In addition, KPH will exhibit various traditional and historical art items used in traditional Japanese tea ceremony, which has long been a part of the cultural upbringing of Japanese women from the Meiji period.

The ‘Tea Ceremony Culture Exhibition’, to be be held in cooperation with Honorary Professor Hiroichi Tsutsui of Kyoto University, will show tea cups, bamboo teaspoons, water vessels and other precious and beautiful instruments used in traditional tea ceremony.

-- BERNAMA

BLUE PAPER ON EVALUATION OF CHINA'S CRUISE PORTS IN 2018 RELEASED

BEIJING, China, Jan 14 (Bernama) -- The first blue paper on evaluation of China's cruise ports in 2018 was released in Beijing on Wednesday, aiming to guide China's domestic cruise ports to improve technical facilities, equipment and services and push the cruise industry into a new stage of development.

The report was compiled jointly by China Waterborne Transport Research Institute under the Ministry of Transport and China Economic Information Service (CEIS) under Xinhua News Agency.

According to the report, the domestic cruise market is entering a new stage of steady and high-quality development from a rapid development stage. In terms of infrastructure, China's cruise ports have already taken the lead among the global peers. However, in the areas of cruise port operations and port services, a large gap still exists compared with the internationally mature ports.

The report shows that China's cruise ports are unevenly developed. Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal, Shenzhen Shekou Cruise Home Port, Tianjin International Cruise Home Port, and Xiamen International Cruise Center enjoy obvious advantages over other domestic ports, ranking in the first tier.

Source: China Economic Information Service (CEIS)

Image Attachments Links: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=328162

--BERNAMA

New Lithium Werks chairman announced

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 (Bernama) -- Dutch energy storage and battery company, Lithium Werks B.V., has appointed T. Joseph Fisher III as board chairman.

Fisher, who has been the company’s chief executive since co-founding it in 2017 with Kees Koolen, is a 30-year veteran in the battery industry.

Koolen will be focussing his energies on the development of a separate battery company while remaining a shareholder and supporter of Lithium Werks.

A statement today said the two companies will continue to cooperate closely going forward.

“We are committed to playing a leading role in society’s energy transition to renewables such as solar and wind, and our strategy remains unchanged.

“We anticipate particularly strong growth in Europe, where battery demand appears to be insatiable,” Fisher said.

“As energy storage is an essential part of the energy transition, in Europe and across the world, we expect demand for lithium-ion batteries to grow tenfold over the next decade alone.

“Our expertise in safe, reliable, clean and sustainable energy storage solutions engendered dramatic growth in 2018. As we enter 2019, we expect to expand further in response to soaring demand through both organic growth and further acquisitions, including our future factory plans in China with our local partners,” he added.

Lithium Werks, which already has three smaller battery facilities in China and has operations across three continents, plans to build multiple gigafactories.

The factories and related facilities will produce battery cells and systems for lithium-ion batteries to be used for energy storage and smart grids, as well as for large transportation equipment and industrial applications.

For more information, visit https://lithiumwerks.com.

-- BERNAMA